Leave it to Me
by flamewarflipsides
Summary: The day after a horrible blizzard, Tails is sick. Sonic takes it upon himself to go get the kid some medicine and groceries. Easy, right? Wrong. From the moment Sonic steps out the door, everything that can go wrong does. Can he get what Tails needs and get home in one piece? What effect will he have on the people he meets along the way?
1. The Morning

This is a Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic, set in the game universe. Sonic belongs to Sega, obviously, and so do most of the people in here.

This contains spoilers for most of the Sonic games, but especially Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic Unleashed/Sonic World Adventure.

This story will also contain:

* moderate comic violence  
* Non-violent, accidental injury  
* Swearing  
* A frank discussion of drug use's effect on society  
* A frank discussion of domestic violence. Hetero and yaoi pairings are mentioned, but no shipping is actually present  
* Horrible customer service  
* Pink Socks

If any of these things bother you, turn back now.

Also, many thanks to my wonderful betas, Iammemyself and Raeweis.

_**Leave It to Me**_

**Chapter 1: The Morning**

I rolled over and sighed. It was gonna be a beautiful day.

The sun was shining on my face, warm, though not as warm as the soft flannel sheets I was wrapped up in. The air was warm and it had a damp feeling to it, like the beach. I may not be much for liquid water, but I love the smell of the beach and that soft feeling in the air. The door was wide open and the sun was filtering through it into the hallway beyond my room. Tails hadn't closed my door in the night, which meant I was unlikely to leave the room and trip over a pyramid of cans stacked around a set of blueprints for an alien translator or a new plane. At some point the previous night, and I only barely remembered this, I had changed out of my wet running socks and into some goofy-looking pink fuzzy socks Amy gave me back at Christmas. They felt so soft and smooth on my feet, and I grinned to myself as I wiggled my toes.

It sure was better than the blizzard outside the night before. I hadn't seen it coming and got caught out in it. Good thing I happened to be close to Tails' workshop when it hit. It was also a good thing I remembered the password for the door, because he wasn't awake. I figured he'd probably been up all night and day working on a project and finally gone to sleep.

I sat up in bed and stretched, wiggling my toes some more. I was surprised at how warm the house felt; Tails usually kept it pretty chilly by my standards, so I was surprised that I wasn't cold at all. He must have figured out I was home and turned the heat up for me. He's great like that.

I figured the least I could do was try to fry him up something for breakfast, since he'd probably be up by now. Then we could go out boarding or something. With as much snow as there was when I came in the night before, I figured there was plenty of winter fun to be had.

I went into the bathroom to wash my hands, and I was surprised to see him there, door wide open. He was standing in front of the sink, mirror open, staring into the medicine cabinet. A big fleece blanket he'd gotten for me for Christmas was draped over his shoulders. Funny, 'cause usually if he turned the heat up for me, it was too hot for him. That's why he got me the blanket.

He wasn't standing as tall as usual.

"Hey Tails. Sleepwalking?"

He turned to look at me, a tired, glazed look in his blue eyes. "When did you get here, Sonic?" he croaked.

Oh for the love of…

"Tails? What happened to you?"

He stared at me, blinking for a second. "What does it look like?" He finally replied.

I smiled nervously, scratching my nose. I had that one coming. "I mean, what's wrong?"

"I still have a fever and I'm out of medicine for it."

I tried really hard not to slap myself in the face with the hand under my nose. "Still? How long have you been sick?"

"Two days now. I feel a little better today…"

I could feel my eyes widening. "Why didn't you call me?"

He rolled his eyes, wincing a little as he did, like the movement hurt. "I know you're totally a medical doctor, but I figured you were busy with other things."

And when Tails' snarky comments come out less polished than mine, you know something's wrong.

"Ok, ok, point taken. "

"Besides, I don't want you to get sick." He put the lid down on the toilet and sat on top of it, sighing heavily.

"Come on, when do I get sick?"

"Well, there's that time you ate heart fruit…"

"What? It smelled good…"

"And there were a couple times when you were the werehog…" He started counting on his fingers.

"Professor Pickle said that was probably from intra-something-something whatsits." OK, so he was starting to have a point here. I shrugged, throwing up my hands.

"And that time you had a fever so high you thought you went into the Arabian Nights."

I frowned, annoyed. "So how do you explain the handkerchiefs?"

"Amy trolling you? Didn't that happen right after that mess with Shadow and the aliens? And didn't we just stop Eggman again?"

"OK, ok, point made, but I've been relaxing. I'm not gonna get sick. And even if I am, it's too late now. I already slept in your house with my door open all night while you coughed or sneezed or whatever. So, now we just focus on getting you better." I looked out the window, trying to gauge the time. Still morning. "Put on your warmest clothes. We're going to the doctor."

"No, we're not. If I have the flu antivirals won't help at this point. I'll just have to wait it out unless I get worse."

I glared at him. "If they coulda treated it, why didn't you go in?"

"I was running a simulation on my computer and I couldn't leave it…"

I put my head in my hand and shook it. Unbelievably stupid for someone that smart.

"Didn't Amy have to remind you to eat and sleep when you were the werehog?"

"Shut up. I'll go to the store and get you some medicine. What all do you need? Something for the fever… cough?"

"Sure."

"There food in this house?"

His eyes rolled up into his head, thinking. "Um… I don't think so. I was going to make a grocery run the day I got sick. I have a couple packages of ramen?"

I suppressed a groan. "All right. You go back to bed. I'll go get that stuff. Back in a flash."

"Sonic wait-"

I ignored him, no time to waste. I went back to my room, put on my jacket and shoes, and dashed out the front door.

Then my feet started to slide. Several seconds and fifty feet later, I slid headfirst into the Tornado.


	2. The Ice

**Chapter 2: The Ice**

The first thing I noticed was losing my vision, but I quickly chalked that up to closing my eyes, like some primitive part of my brain thought my eyes needed protecting. Then came the pain, a sickening vibrating pain all through my head and my neck. Then a cold weight in my chest, freezing, almost piercing, finally burning. Then my stomach, then lower. Finally, after what seemed like forever, my head finally spun backward. The equal and opposite reaction. I felt myself falling, finally, until my spines lodged themselves in the cold snow.

I'm not sure how long I lay there, letting the ache travel through my whole body, willing the world to stop spinning. After a minute, I slowly forced myself to my feet and looked around, No damage I could see, but my face was probably pretty bad. Everything worked. I could feel my toes. I wiggled them to be sure and felt fuzz. Crap. I walked out of the house in pink socks.

I walked over to the path, slowly, carefully, trying not to slip. Of course Tails wouldn't have been shoveling and salting things if he were sick. Duh. If I could just get to something that was maintianed by the government, it'd be de-iced and I'd be able to run, right? I just had to make it that far.

I wiped out and smacked my face on the ground, again. This time I was able to slow myself with my hands. I climbed to my feet again, shaking my head. No more thinking. Just walking.

I came up to the edge of the hill and put my foot on the slope. Felt stable enough. Then I put my other one down and I felt myself starting to slide. Picked up the first foot and tiptoed ahead, which stopped the sliding for a second, but then it began again. So I brought my other foot forward, feeling like some kinda insane billy goat, tiptoeing down a steep slope. Tip-toe-tip-toe, the slip getting faster each time, until I threw my chest forward to try and get my weight back under me, until the ground rushed up at my face. I tucked my head and rolled, snow building up in my spines, rolled and rolled, until the mountainside stopped me.

Ow.

I uncurled and shifted my weight, rolling onto my stomach, trying to push myself up, my fingers on the ice, my knees, then my toes underneath me.

I slipped. My nose hit the ground.

Ow.

More careful this time. Fingers gripping at the ice, wishing I had werehog claws for once, putting my foot flat on the ground before I pushed, I lifted myself up, bringing my fingers to whatever was in front of me quickly to steady myself, gripping at it. I looked up at it, only to find myself face to face with a thin sheet of ice over the mountain.

If I can't run, I decided, I'll slide on purpose. I lifted a foot and kicked the wall behind me. My other foot slipped out from under me. Face first again.

It was starting to wear on me. What was I doing? I wondered if I could make it back to Tails' for a second before I stopped, growling. I didn't come this far and smash up my face to go home and get chewed out. I was going to get him medicine, and food, and I was going to do it quickly. After all I've been through, how could I let a little ice get in the way?

So I put my hands on the ground, crouching, trying to get my feet flat.

And I spin-dashed.

Just a little. Just enough to get moving. Just enough to get some momentum.

I felt the ice under me, rolling, almost undulating, the occasional rock in my path smacking my face, cutting my ear. Then I felt the ice level off… a flat surface. Rise… Bump, bump. I felt my heart catch in my chest as I passed under the train tracks. I felt myself go over the edge... shot my arm out… gripped as tight as I could… And with a horrible, almost tearing pain in my shoulder, there I was, hanging over the cliff.

By one hand.

The waves crashing beneath me.

I swore and brought my other hand up, trying to grip the ledge. By some miracle I found the one place where the ice wasn't too slippery, even though the cold felt like it was reaching down into my bones.

I lifted one foot and felt around for a foothold on the cliffside. After what seemed like an eternity, I found one.

Then the other.

I pushed with my legs, pulling with my arms… I felt my fingers slip a little, but I pushed them in, trying to grip, and managed to stick. I kept pushing, and pushing, until finally I was able to get up high enough to throw my body forward, rolling again, this time right under the traintracks.

I straightened myself out and rolled sideways, throwing my hips so I wouldn't roll front to back.

I crawled the rest of the way to the station, shivering as I went. Standing as I walked into the train, I found that it was packed, not a single seat in sight. I stood there, scanning the seats for a few minutes, and found nothing. Giving up, I walked over toward a free handhold, and stared up at it, wondering just how much taller it was than the furthest I could reach. I grabbed the armrest of the seat next to it, trying to steel myself for the lurch I knew was coming. I closed my eyes and sighed, the pain catching up to me, throbbing everywhere, my head, my face, my neck, my arms and legs, my stomach, even my back. I shivered, trying not to feel the cold in my bones.

This was going to be a long trip.


	3. The Train

**Chapter 3: The Train**

The train started moving. Despite my best efforts, my feet slipped out from under me and I flew face-first onto the floor.

A couple kids in the back laughed. Jerks.

I waited until the train was up to speed to stand back up, and when I did, I found myself face to face with some human's belt.

"Pass, please?"

Oh crap.

I reached for my wallet and pulled it out, digging out my train pass. I offered it out to him, and he frowned. Not sure why, I turned and looked around behind me.

Everyone behind me in the car had a purple pass out. Even the giant grizzly bear sleeping in the chair behind me had a purple pass in her hand.

I looked. Mine was blue.

New year. New pass. I swore in my head.

To my relief, the conductor guy smiled at me with stern eyes, nodded, and moved on.

One more thing I had to buy before the trip back, I guessed.

I put it back in my wallet and checked my money situation. I was relieved to see money, but not really as much as I'd hoped for. This was gonna be fun. I put my wallet away and looked around again.

Most of the train car were staring at me, eyes wide or narrowed. A few kids were snickering, and one kid outright pointed. That was gonna get annoying. I wondered what they were looking at. People staring at me isn't a surprise, really, but snickering is. I figured it must be my face.

Then I turned back. Behind me was that big sleeping bear, sprawled out in the seat, a little black bag in her lap. Even sitting down she was taller than I was; I wouldn't be surprised if she were bigger than Bark. It was kinda funny to see someone that big and menacing asleep, but it was more nice to look at the one person on the train who wasn't staring at me. I took a second to envy her big, fuzzy sweater. I was still freezing.

Finally finding a sight that wouldn't distract me, I started making lists in my head. So Tails needed a painkiller for the fever. I can only have certain ones, so I made note to get him one of them… the ones I can't have, he really shouldn't either, given how young he is. He needed something for the cough, so I figured I'd get cough syrup and cough drops. Get a couple of days worth of meals, which meant at the very least some eggs, milk, meat. Probably flour, because I hate canned gravy and Tails isn't crazy about it either… plus it's just good to have around, even if all you're making is frozen cookie dough. Mm, frozen cookie dough. Cans of soup for sure, and maybe a can of broth or two to make homemade. Couple of freezer meals, just in case I got sick too. Some fruit. Cereal.

Then the train started to lurch, slowing to a stop. I threw my foot out to stop me this time, but I slipped again. I scrambled my feet under me, trying to stop myself from falling sideways onto the floor, and I felt a brief sense of relief as my effort seemed to work.

Then I realized I was falling forward.

I braced myself as I landed, something soft and warm and a little bit fuzzy catching me, a hard button pressing into my forehead. I didn't dare open my eyes. I knew where my face was. I tried to prepare myself for what she was going to do.

There are some things you just can't prepare for. Playing any video game with Tails. Getting shot out of an escape pod in space. Getting all the chaos energy siphoned out of you. Meeting Amy Rose.

I added "getting hit below the belt by a grizzy bear" to the list.

The pain screamed through me; I'd never felt anything that horrible, not even the first time I became the werehog. She was screeching something in a shrill voice, but I couldnt make it out. Two warm paws slammed into my shoulders and pushed me backwards, and my feet slipped out from under me as I curled into a ball, moaning, rolling across the aisle. The people there must have just barely managed to pick their feet up, because my spines hit the hard plastic bottom of their seat.

"Don't touch me!" the bear growled, her voice suddenly dropping low. I'm talking like, Shadow low. Like, if I hadn't landed face-first in her chest, I would be doubting she were a she low. But then her voice softened, rising back up, and she asked, "Sonic?"

"theoneandonly," I squeaked, trying to breathe.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" she screeched, even higher. "Oh my god, you couldn't reach the handles could you? Oh my god! I am so stupid!"

I might have missed a couple "oh my gods." I was kinda rolling around in pain.

Suddenly there was a loud slapping noise and a rush of air, and through my closed eyelids I could see all the light around me blocked out. I jumped a little bit, but nothing hit me. Then something cold was pressed against my arm.

"Here, take this. I'm so sorry. I had no idea!"

I forced an eye open. A big lavender grizzly claw sticking out of a blue, fuzzy sweater was holding out a half-frozen water bottle to me. She'd jumped out of her seat and kneeled next to me. But I'd hit her…?

I took it… but I was on a public train. I didn't really need photos of me holding a bottle down there to end up on the news. I put it on my face. It felt nice.

Then those warm claws were touching my arm, my legs. I started to panic, getting out a "Whoah" before that voice shushed me. She picked me up, and I found myself pressed against that fuzzy sweater again. Then there was a swift movement, and she put me down gently on warm, hard plastic. Then I was sitting in her seat, staring up at her as she stood. I had to crane my neck to see her face.

"I'm so sorry. I hope you can forgive me… That was so stupid of me and I shouldn't even have been asleep on a train…"

"Hey, I'm the one who landed on you," I croaked.

"I'm the one who was taking a seat someone else needed. Especially you…"

Great. A fangirl. Although with a voice like that maybe "fanwoman" was more like it.

"I shoulda sat on the floor."

"So you could roll into someone? No, I'm sorry…"

And then the train began to slow again. She stumbled, but quickly reached up and caught herself with the handle I wasn't able to reach.

"Station Square!"

"This is my stop. Sorry."

The train halted, and I dashed out the door as quickly as I could. This time, I managed not to slide anywhere.


	4. The Spill

**Chapter Four: The Spill**

The nice thing about Station Square is that they were way more prepared than Tails' runway.

When I stepped off the train, I only slipped a little. The grizzly bear almost lost her footing, too, so I figured I wasn't doing too badly. Still, neither of us had a huge problem getting out of the station into the town itself. As I turned down a street, I heard her call out to me.

"Sonic! Where are you going?"

… I rolled my eyes and debated telling her. On one hand… she was clearly a fan. What if she followed me? What if she told Amy or something?

On the other hand, I had fallen face-first into her fuzzy sweater and taken her water. I kinda owed her some kinda evidence I wasn't a creep.

I turned around. "Grocery store!" I shouted. I waited until she caught up to me a little bit, and then added. "Tails is sick. Picking up some stuff for him."

She frowned. Not the look you want on a big bear, but somehow it didn't seem all that threatening. "Oh… well… I hope he's better soon." Her eyes rolled up as she seemed to think for a second. "Are you going to Nakamart?"

Huh. I hadn't thought about which store I was going to. Nakamart had better prices, but on the other hand, Drummond's across the road was local. So I had options.

"Probably. Or Drummond's."

She smiled, a knowing twinkle in her eyes. "You'll probably decide when you get there."

I nodded, raising an eyebrow, frowning a little. "What gave you that idea?"

She shrugged, grinning. "I don't know. Just seems like something you'd do. I need to go, but maybe I'll see you around. Sorry, Sonic." She kept going straight, past the corner.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. Fangirls.

The walk there was pretty uneventful, though. I got a lot of stares and comments from passersby… my face musta looked pretty bad… One woman even stopped and asked me, "Did that pink girl do this to you?" I told her no, I was sparring with Knuckles. Somehow that seemed more believable than slipping and sliding all over the place and getting kneed in the emeralds by a huge bear. Maybe it was the way I was walking? I was sure my strides weren't as loose as normal.

Anyway, before long I made my way to the shopping district outside of town. Maybe "shopping district" isn't the right word. I don't know. I just know it's a less congested area outside the city that's full of malls and grocery stores and book stores. The kinda big old corporate stuff they can't fit inside the city itself 'cause the blocks are so small. There were grocery stores inside the city, sure, but these ones were near the train station. I guess all the farms used to be out this way, before they paved 'em over for parking lots. Go figure. Good intentions, right?

I stood at the end of the sidewalk. To my right, a ways off, was Drummond's. Drummond's is a local chain, started a couple cities over. I like to shop there, you know, buy local and stuff, but the Drummond's there isn't really as clean as the Nakamart. If you went over to Westopolis, though, it was the exact opposite. Management's something, I guess. But, Nakamart's prices are usually lower, my money was kinda tight, and it was closer besides, just a small walk off to my left, so I went there.

I was pretty sure it was going to be a pretty simple trip: grab medicine, grab food, pay, go. I grabbed a shopping cart and headed over toward the medicine. As I walked that way, I passed by the floral section, and I found myself wondering if maybe bringing something green into the house would help improve Tails' mood. He wasn't as much of a nature guy as me, but a little spider plant or something couldn't hurt, right?

Then my cart stopped, sending a little jolt up into my wrists.

I looked up. Some kinda stretchy orange fence was set up around the pharmacy area… I looked up and I could see the little sign that said "pain relievers" just behind it, and a mess of little tiny boxes all over the floor behind it.

"What the…?" I started. I looked outside. I could see the sun. A few times I'd popped in here at three in the morning and seen the orange fence up and some guy riding one of those wax machines behind it, but broad daylight? I looked back again, and tried to figure out if I could just reach past the fence. If I'd been the werehog, maybe, but I wasn't; I could see my arm was too short.

"Hi, Sonic. Too bad you weren't here earlier." I looked up at the sound of the voice, and was greeted by a tiny human stock girl in an apron.

I didn't like where that was heading.

"A robot was in here looking for something earlier. Made a huge mess."

I really, really didn't like where that was heading. "Orange?"

"Yellow, and square, actually. We can't let anyone back there until we get it cleaned up…" she apologized, giving a little shrug.

I stared at the kid, incredulous. "So, I'm good enough to stop the robot for you, but not good enough to jump the fence and get what I came here to shop for after he throws some stuff around?"

I regretted it immediately. She frowned at me, eyes narrowing just a little. "You know that's not what I meant. Honestly, I would just let you through but… it's a liability thing. I'd lose my job. I'm supposed to call security if anyone the GUN thinks might hop the fence shows up, but I…" She thought, looking up, before returning her gaze to me. "I don't know, you're Sonic. You're reasonable."

She was right. I am reasonable, and I was losing my cool with someone who definitely didn't deserve it. I decided to try and keep my bad mood in check. "Hey…" I frowned, looking down a bit. "I don't blame you. I'm just kinda frustrated is all. As you can see, I had a little trouble on my way here. Need something for this eye," I fibbed. If Eggman was tearing up the pharmacy of a grocery store, especially the same part of it I was heading to, maybe I didn't want to spread around that Tails wasn't up to fighting him.

"I'm sure one of my coworkers has some in a purse."

"No, thanks. It's fine. I gotta get other stuff anyway."

She sighed heavily. "You're going down the road, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Sorry, dudette. I can't really walk around the other store with your bags on my arm."

I walked past her, peeking at her nametag on the way past. Amanda. Pretty sure if I went and told the boss how nice she was to me, then went somewhere else, that wouldn't look good for her. I decided I'd remember her, and find some way to put in a good word for her some other day.

I parked my cart in the corral and walked back outside, into the cold.


	5. The Math

**Chapter 5: The Math**

The walk to Drummond's seemed long, and I found myself shivering on the way there.

I figured it must have gotten colder since I went into Nakamart. It was getting later in the day, and the sun was a little lower in the sky. Maybe I was just so hyped up on adrenaline from getting into that scuffle on the train that I didn't notice it before.

I grabbed a cart out of the outside corral on my way into Drummond's, looking up at its big red sign as I crossed their huge parking lot. I probably shoulda paid a little more attention to the traffic, but I figure a blue hedgehog with a red cart is gonna stand out, and the speed limit inside the lot was like five or ten miles an hour anyway.

I passed Shadow on the way out, bags on his arm. He grinned at me and smirked. "Nice socks, faker." I started to scowl at him, but then he walked over to what seemed like a random spot in the parking lot and disappeared. Must have been some kinda chaos control sweet spot there.

I musta still been scowling when I came in the door, because the little old lady at the door didn't say hello to me. Her jaw just dropped. Then again, it might have been whatever happened to my face. I wasn't sure.

"Hey," I murmured, forcing a smile. I got one back, at least.

I made my way right over to the pharmacy, found the little sign that said "pain relievers" and started to look for the right one.

Part of me wanted to just grab one and go, but I knew a little better than that. One, there are a couple of painkillers that apparently aren't good for kids, like Tails, or even me, to have. I'm kinda embarrassed that I know that, but let's put it this way: I was pretty desperate not to crack the Arabian Nights the last time I got sick at home, I was bored out of my mind, and bathrooms are full of labels. Two, there are a couple painkillers that I personally don't like to take. Either I feel weird after them, or my little label binge last time I was sick and bored told me some stuff about them that I didn't really wanna mess with.

So, I knew what I wanted.

I also knew the painkillers on the shelf in this particular store were sorted by what was actually in them, not by brand. Meaning, the pain killers I wanted were all going to be sorted together, although there was a decent chance the one I was after was going to be right next to the ones that are just for the girls.

In a rare moment of smartness, I looked for that big pink box first. Found it. easy. Six bucks, twenty pills. I could do better than that. I looked to its right for the familiar blue bottle. Six bucks, a hundred pills. That's better. Then next to it, a bottle: 16 bucks, 300 pills…

Which one was cheaper?

I knew I had to watch my money because I didn't have a lot, and there were a lot of other things I needed to buy. Plus, I needed to be able to afford a train pass back. But math is not really my thing, not any more than all the other school stuff is, anyway. Still, painkillers don't really go bad, and we use them enough after stopping Eggman. It made more sense to save money in the long run by buying a little more now if it were cheaper.

I must have stood there forever standing, trying to figure it out. For some reason, probably adrenaline wearing off, I couldn't seem to crunch the numbers right. It kept on working out to eighteen bucks for three hundred with the little bottles, but that didn't seem right. I tried dividing the other one by three instead, but that was too hard. You can't divide sixteen by three anyway, and I didn't have paper in front of me…

But, phones have calculators. Tails more or less insists I have a phone these days, if only so he can send me pictures of chao hiding behind stuff with the word "SOON" in that big black and white font and cheeseburgers spelled wrong at three in the morning. I've seen people use their phones as calculators. So I reached for mine, and I found it wasn't there.

I muttered a little curse under my breath and tried to think where I lost it. Start this morning: Did I even grab it? I didn't remember grabbing it. It mighta still been sitting there next to the bed, full of fifteen different messages from Amy about how we should go on a date. But that also meant I had no calculator.

"Excuse me, Mr. Sonic?"

I was startled out of my reverie by that sweet little voice, and I looked down. There was a little orange rabbit standing there, looking up at me with big shiny eyes. Cream. She was smiling, but she looked a little worried.

"Oh, hey Cream. Sorry." I stepped back.

"How are you, Mr. Sonic?" She reached down and grabbed the bigger bottle of the medicine I wanted. The little plastic thing that pushes the bottles forward made a little noise as it hit the plastic up front, no more bottles to stop it. I hoped that wasn't the cheaper one.

"I'm great," I lied.

She blinked at me, which was the Cream-the-Rabbit equivalent of a glare.

"OK, well, I kinda fell and hit my face on the way here. Super speed and ice don't go together very well."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Is there something I can do to help?"

"Nah," I lied again. "I was just thinking about what kinda medicine to get, and I got distracted daydreaming about my phone."

Cream smiled at me. "Oh, it's very hard to make a good choice. There are so many different kinds and so many different sizes, and the prices aren't the same. My mommy always tells me to buy the little bottle because it's cheaper, but I just learned how to divide in school, and I figured out that if you buy the little bottle, you pay six cents for each pill, but if you buy the big bottle, you only pay five and a half!"

How old is she, six? I don't think I learned to divide when I was six, and clearly I didn't know how to do it now…

But she got the last big bottle.

"But it's good they offer the little sizes. I mean, sometimes she doesn't give me enough money to go buy the big bottle and split it up into three older little bottles, so I have to buy the little one."

"That's a good idea, Cream…" I grabbed one of the little boxes with the smallest size inside.

"By the way, Mr. Sonic, I really like your socks."

The fact that she really meant that stung a little bit more than Shadow's take on them. I thanked her, muttered a goodbye, and scurried over to the cough medicine.


	6. The Jerk

**Chapter 6: The Jerk**

**Author's Note: **This chapter is the only reason this story has a mature content warnig? Why? Language. This chapter contains severe coarse language. Just a head's up.

* * *

When I made it over to the cold medicine, my cheeks were red, my head was hurting, and I was already sick of shopping.

But there were things to get, and I don't run away from things I've decided to do.

I made a mental list of what I had to pick up here. Cough syrup for Tails, just in case, so I wouldn't have to go back out in this crazy weather. Cough drops too, because to me they work better than cough syrup anyway. And then those special cough drops that are supposed to keep you from getting sick, for me, just in case.

Just like with the painkillers, there was a whole aisle of different medicines that were all supposed to do the same thing, only not. You know, Something-something, something something SM, something something DS, and every other random combination of letters you can think of. Of course, once Tails had broken the code for me and explained that those little letters actually mean something. And the last time he had a cold he told me to always get the one that just says XF, or that has the weird g stuff in it. Something about the stuff that dries up your nose and the stuff that helps with the cough do opposite stuff and work against each other.

Tails also told me the kid's version is the adult version, cut in half. So, get the adult version, 'cause it's cheaper, and he'd just take half a dose.

I looked for the bottles of the store brand that said something about cough. I realized I was having a hard time finding anything that said cough at all… But this was the cough aisle, wasn't it? Weren't there cough drops behind me? Was I as bad at reading as I was at math?

I decided not to waste any more time only to get shown up by a well-meaning kid again. I walked over to the pharmacy line. There were about three people ahead of me: a little old lady, a young badger with two screaming toddlers, and a short, balding human who was on the phone with someone, carrying on about some hysterical woman on his phone.

I crossed my arms and started tapping my feet, trying not to listen to the guy in front of me. He was wearing a pink polo with the collar popped up like he thought he was some kind of cool dude, and though I was trying to think about something else, all I could hear is about how some woman was freaking out trying to drive and she was in no shape to. OK, stopping a drunk driver? Maybe he was a cool dude.

"MOMMY LOOK IT'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" one of the kids shouted. Ow. My ears.

"That's nice dear," she sighed, breathlessly, not even looking.

"So she got into the car and I went, 'Barry, you're going to kill yourself,'" cool dude continued. "So she was like, 'that'd be better than staying with you!'"

Maybe not so cool dude.

"Mommy loooooooooooooooooook!"

"Honey, mommy's trying to find the right prescription."

"So she throws the car into gear, and I don't know what to do. I stand in front of it, but she starts backing up like she's going to steer around me. So… I picked up a rock and threw it at her headlight. I can hear her screaming inside, but the stupid bitch tried to keep driving—"

"Dude, there's a kid right in front of you." I started to look around, so I could high five whoever told the guy off. Then I realized I was the one who told the guy off. It came out of my mouth automatically.

He turned around and glared at me with cold, blue eyes. "What was that?"

"I said," trying to mimic my tone from before almost exactly, but pronouncing each word really clear and slow, "there's a little girl right in front of you."

He took another step closer to me, towering over me, those big bushy black eyebrows coming down over those scary blue eyes. Honestly, I think I would rather have been toe to toe with Eggman. I know what to expect from him, and if Eggman makes a scene it's usually pretty predictable. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"So you just called your girlfriend a bitch in front of a little girl."

"And how is that your business?" he sneered, lowering the phone.

I glared back at him, shifting my feet a little for a fighting stance. In a way, he was right. And in a way, saying what I said was probably enough. Sonic the Hedgehog telling a guy off in public is probably enough to get a little kid to think that maybe that guy's a jerk.

"What you do with your girlfriend ain't my business. What you do in front of a kid in a public store? That's everybody's business. If you don't have anything nice to say, shut up."

"And what are you gonna do about it?" He leaned in over me, trying his best to intimidate me. Something in the back of my mind questioned the logic of that on his part. Then again, I did look pretty banged up. Still, he had pretty good reason to think I wasn't gonna hit him: I wasn't.

I grinned. "I bet I can run over to the service desk and find a manager before you can get your scrip filled, buddy."

"Hit him! Hit him!" the little kid chanted, her eyes lighting up wide.

"He ain't worth the scratch on my knuckles, kid." I smiled at her and started walking away. I could feel tension working its way up my back as I left, my ears folded back a little so I could hear if he lunged at me.

And he did, although about half a second after I expected. I quickstepped to the right and picked up my pace, landing at the service desk. "Hey, I'm sorry to bother you," I apologized, frowning, "But I can't find any cough syrup and some frat boy in a pink polo is trying to hit me."

The pimply human at the desk nodded, picked up a phone, and started dialing. I turned around to face the pharmacy, and I saw him coming right at me, at normal, human speeds. I smiled and waved at him, and his little eyes went so wide I could see the blue from the desk.. When he got to the rope at the service desk, he kept going, past it, past me, out the door.

"You did the right thing," the kid muttered, covering the phone with his hand. "I can just imagine what everyone would say if you hit him back. We can probably get him banned from the store now."

"Was he a problem before?"

"Not really, but nobody likes how he talks to his girlfriend. Wonder why she stayed. As for the cough syrup, it's behind the counter at the pharmacy now. New law about the active drug in it. You'll have to go back in line and wait. I'll send a manager over for you once we get the police sorted out."

I nodded and dashed back over to the pharmacy. A teenage girl, a woman in a suit, and a sniffling porcupine had joined the line.

I swore to myself and got in line behind sniffles.

"I told you it was Sonic the Hedgehog, mommy! But why didn't he stop the bad guy?"

"Oh, I think he did," the woman said, and smiled at me. Well, that was something, anyway.


	7. The Recall

**Chapter 7: The Recall**

By the time the line got to me, I was tapping my feet on the ground and drumming my fingers on my arm so hard it hurt. I was bored, I was restless, I was tired, my head was hurting, and I just wanted to go home. Thankfully, after I took care of frat boy the kids were cheering instead of whining, but it was still loud enough to hurt.

I asked for the cough syrup that just had the cough medicine in it, not the antiwhatsits, and they made me sign a bunch of paperwork promising that I wasn't going to give it to kids to get high on before they gave me the bottle. You can get high on that stuff? Is there anything people need for important stuff that you can't get high on anymore?

Then I wandered back over to pick up the cough drops. I found Tails' favorite, the fruity tingly ones, pretty easily on a shelf that was just in my reach. Then I started combing the place for the kind I was after. I read somewhere that if you take this certain kind of cough drop when everyone around you is sick, you won't get as sick as everyone else, and if you take it when you first get sick, it won't last as long. It's not something I need to know often, but let me tell you, that time with the 1001 Nights I was kicking myself in the butt for not knowing.

So I started combing the shelves, looking high and low, for the drops for me. I guess they're not cough drops if you're not coughing right? Candy. Medicinal candy? Nah, that sounds like the same exact reason I had to stand in line for cough syrup.

After spending about ten minutes in the aisle, I wasn't finding it. What's weirder is that I couldn't see any empty spots on the shelf, either. It was just… gone. So I popped back over to the service desk. The same kid was there, and so was a police officer.

"Oh, hey, Sonic. Not often you come to us!" she quipped, grinning as she adjusted her hat.

"Yeah, well, I didn't wanna hurt the guy."

"Wouldn't do to get your socks dirty, right?" She snickered, eyes darting down to look at them. I frowned.

"Uh, about the guy who was trying to hit him?" The kid at the desk prompted, rolling his eyes the moment the officer looked away.

"Right. I'll just take a statement. Unless the hedgehog had something else to complain about…?"

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to hide it from the lady, and turned to the kid at the desk. "I can't find a kinda cough drop I'm lookin' for either. Did you guys move them, too?"

"Well, they just discontinued a couple kinds," the kid offered with a shrug. "After you give the officer a statement I'll walk over there with you? I'm about to clock out anyway."

Wow. A kid was gonna help me after he clocked out? I realized how goofy the smile was after I felt it go all the way up to my eyes, and felt a little embarrassed. Covering, I said, "Wow, It's really nice to have someone say something that isn't about my socks!"

Probably the wrong thing to say, 'cause the officer was grumpy with me the whole time she took my statement. She really pushed me on where all the bruises on my face came from, and I told her the truth about slipping and falling down Tails' hill. No sense getting someone in trouble. She let me go with a couple of snide comments about not stopping Cubot at Nakamart's and a sneering promise that the frat boy wouldn't be insulting little girls at the pharmacy any time soon.

When I got done, as promised, the kid left the desk and walked over with me. "I'm not sure we have what you're looking for, Sonic. Most of the zinc drops have been temporarily discontinued because of some kinda recall."

I frowned. "That sucks. I hope I didn't waste your time," I added. I looked at the boy's nametag. Keith.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't have any time to waste if you hadn't stopped Chaos. If I can be the one person in your day who isn't a complete idiot, that's worth something."

Uh oh. Fanboy.

He marched into the aisle and zeroed right in on the area I expected to find them, tracing his fingers over the shelf until he was pointing at something. "They should be here, but it looks like someone just stocked another shelf of the minty kind there instead. We must be out of stock. Sorry Sonic." He shrugged at me. "I have to get home and pick my sister up from piano practice, but if you need anything else, most of the people at the desk should be pretty nice." He looked at me closer, and an oddly stern look came over his face for a kid so young. "And put some ice on your nose. The way Knuckles treats you is almost as bad as that guy who chased you treats his girlfriend. You know, I bet even Shadow would treat you better…"

He walked away, and I put my head in my hands, slapping myself so hard it hurt. Why were the people who mean the nicest things saying the weirdest things on accident? Mistaken for gay with Knuckles now? Honestly, that's not even that bad; I couldn't give two rips if people thought I was gay and maybe if they did, Amy would leave me alone for a while. But seriously, mistaken for some battered abuse victim at Knuckles' hands, now? Shadow would treat me well? Well, dudes or no, I bet they'd both still treat me better than Amy.

I shook my head. The kid had good intentions. He cared. That should be worth more than the fact that he just suggested I was getting slapped around by someone like that. It's not something I thought about much, but I found myself standing there, thinking about it instead of what I was after. Why did it bother me so much? Why would I feel ashamed? Because… there's no shame in being beaten, but if I were getting treated like that, it meant I stayed. Just like the kid said earlier about the girl…

That didn't make any sense to me, though, 'cause no one wants to get slapped around and told they're crazy. Whatever kept someone in a situation like that must have a lot of power, if people thought it could get to me. Must be scared to leave, if they don't like it. Scared of something you can't run away from or beat up. The kinda thing that was a little too deep for me…

I chuckled and shook my head again. Learn something new every day.

I decided to put my foot down with Amy next time, and went grab a bag of the minty cough drops where mine were supposed to be. I figured it'd be good to have a variety, but I was so surprised when I pulled them from behind the shelf that I dropped them.

Sitting there, shining in the fluorescent store light, was a little red bag painted with cherries and ice. My drops. The ones that are supposed to keep you from getting sick. The ones that have that funky, tangy metal flavor that reminds me of what happens when I fight Eggman's robots with my mouth open, only good. I swear I could hear a choir of angel chao behind me as I picked them up, out of the shelf, and deposited them in the little kid seat in the front of my cart. I made a mental note to ask the person doing the bagging not to bag them and made my way over to grocery. Maybe I would be able to get home before sundown. Kid needed me.


	8. The Shelf

**Chapter 8: The Shelf**

Things got a little calmer from there. I got a few snickers and so-called compliments for my socks, sure, but that wasn't really all that bad. I got a few snide comments about where was I when the robot attacked Nakamart, and those were a little worse, but still not all that bad. I'm a guy who loves adventure, not the world's babysitter. I got a few fangirls who wanted pictures, or hugs, and that was a bit more annoying. Still, they were doing it outta love and were easy enough to get rid of, especially after I got the idea to start coughing when they asked. And I mean, at least they meant well.

I went through the grocery aisles, starting with the dry stuff. I didn't know how long the lines were gonna be, and I'd had enough of a Murphy's Law day to realize that I should assume that everything that could go wrong would. I didn't want anything frozen or cold to melt in line or on the train ride home. I picked up all the good stuff that didn't fall under that umbrella first. I went all out. Tails could get pretty serious about what he was doing and forget to do grocery shopping, so I couldn't just assume he was only out of bread and milk. I went down the bread aisle and picked up a couple loaves of bread in different kinds, even some of that healthy whole wheat stuff to go with my white. I also grabbed hot dog buns… I mean, come on. This is me we're talking about.

On the soup aisle I grabbed a couple of cans of chicken soup. I was gonna get the ones with the alphabet letters on them to cheer Tails up, but they're like a buck more expensive. It's not that exciting, geez. I made up the difference buying the low sodium ones. While I was there, I also grabbed some of those vacuum packed meals with the mashed potatoes and some kinda meat. I had no idea how I was gonna look for freezer space for frozen dinners, but the vacuum things are something that isn't complicated to make and keep pretty much forever. If I got sick too, he'd need to be able to have something easy to make.

On the aisle with the peanut butter, I grabbed a can of crunchy and a can of smooth… Tails and I don't exactly have the same preferences. I also grabbed some nice fruit preserves because those are a little better for you than that goopy stuff we call jelly. Besides, looking at grape jelly kinda makes me think of the chemical plant. I tried to get blueberry 'cause I read somewhere that has lots of antioxidants or something. Or maybe it was that weird acai thing? I dunno.

I didn't go as crazy on the snack aisle. Saltine crackers were the big hit there. Not only are they good in soup, but they're great for an upset stomach, which I guess kids get with the flu sometimes. I've found they're pretty good for dealing with heartburn if I ate too many chili dogs, too. I also picked up some cookies because, well, comfort food. I grabbed some nuts because they're good for you… I wanted to get some chips, but I stopped myself. Those would pretty much be for me, and they don't really have any nutritional value.

I went down the aisle that had all the baking stuff to pick up a couple of boxes of gelatin. Maybe this is weird, but one thing I like to do with gelatin is make it normally, let it cool a little, and drink it warm. I got a few flavors, Tails' favorite and mine. You can't really go wrong with sick people and gelatin, anyway, and it's cheap.

Then I hit the breakfast aisle. You've gotta have cereal. Nice, easy to make, and halfway healthy. Sometimes. I should really stop shopping hungry.

The first thing I noticed when I got to the cereal aisle is that the colors looked different. It looked like they reorganized the whole thing since last time I had been there.

OK. No big deal.

So I started combing the aisles, looking up and down at the different kinds of cereal. I found my favorite easily and flopped the little orange box into the cart, chuckling a little as I did. I love doing that. Give it a little tap and it just falls in. It's more fun to do it to Eggman's robots, but I was tired and my legs were staring to ache. I could take a cereal box.

Then to find Tails'.

I reached the endcap without finding it, so I turned the cart around and swept back through, looking for the familiar white box. No luck.I did find those little toaster things, though. Tails loves those. I thought maybe if I had enough money, I'd get a little rainbow napkin to go with 'em. He'd get a kick outta that.

Then I realized I hadn't been looking at the shelves that I couldn't reach.

I looked up, scanning the aisle's topmost shelves, looking for his cereal. I found it way at the other end, on top.

I swore a little in my head and dashed over there, leaving my cart where it was.

Now, if I'd focused juuuuuuuust right in the past, I'd been able to jump high enough to get the top shelf, grab something, and not break anything. I found myself thinking that I was not having a good focus day, so I looked around to see if there was anyone who could help me. Nope.

I slid the cart over and tried to stand on that. Nope.

I gave a wimpy little human-style hop. All that accomplished was making my knees hurt.

So I really had no choice. I stood there, looking at the white box with all the rainbow coloring on it, halfway willing it to come down into my arms. I had a dream about a guy who could do that once. But I wasn't that guy, and the box never came.

So I crouched down, jumped up, and tried to reach it.

I came down hard, smacking my arm on the cart. I bit my lip.

Then I pushed the cart out of the way. It seemed so heavy, almost painful on my wrists. I had too much stuff in there.

Then I came back and looked at the cereal, taunting me.

I crouched down and jumped again. I missed, and landed hard on my knee, but at least I didn't hit anything else this time.

Third time's a charm.

I stepped just a bit closer, jumped up, and planted my fingers on a box of cereal, yanking them downward. I landed face up, and I felt the pointy corner of a box of cereal land on my face.

Phew. Got it.

Then one on my stomach, then another on my nose. Another one poked me in the eye, good thing I closed 'em. Then my chest. I lost count after that. I lay there until the roar stopped.

"Cleanup on Aisle 3," I heard over the intercom.

Crap.


	9. The Dureek

**Chapter 9: The Dureek**

The next thing I knew, I was being dug out by a really apologetic manager. I started to apologize back, but I couldn't even get a word in edgewise. She was a middle aged lady, some kinda moth, and she wouldn't shut up about how honored she was to have my business again, and how grateful she was that I got that menace barred from the place, and how nice it was that I talked to the police, and Keith said I was really nice, and she was so sorry the shelves were too high for me, don't worry about cleaning it up, oh can I get you coupons—

That was too much. I barked, "No," Then, more calmly, I apologized: "Hey, I shoulda asked for help. I'll just clean this up and we'll forget this ever happened."

"But… you can't reach the shelf."

Oh right.

A kid ran up with a ladder and she climbed up it. I started handing boxes of cereal to her, putting a couple in my cart. I was gonna have to hoard that stuff now that I couldn't reach it.

"Oh, thank you so much for your help, Sonic!" she blathered, voice wavering. Dude, just be mad at me already! "I'll see about getting step stools put in these aisles, or on the endcaps, so people don't have to strain to get things on the top shelf. I can't believe I never thought of that before… Usually I just fly up, and my stock people say a lot of furries ask them for help…"

A subtle hint I should have asked for help, maybe? I'll take it. "Hey, I'm the idiot who knocked 'em all over. Like I said, let's forget this ever happened."

"Oh no, I can't do that. But I'll make sure and say it was a porcupine who knocked it over and inspired me to get step stools for furries."

I smiled. "Thanks."

"You seem tired. Why don't you go finish your shopping?" She smiled at me. I found myself smiling back as I thanked her again and pushed my heavy cart off.

I grabbed a couple cans of disinfectant on the cleaning aisle, and some dish soap and laundry detergent, just in case. Toilet paper and tissue paper, 'cause, well, duh. Then I got to the refrigerated stuff. Milk, Eggs, Butter, all easy picks. I got some muffins off the day-old rack, 'cause why not? Then I grabbed just about every kinda juice I could think of and a couple kinds of yogurt. What? It's good for you. Tails likes it.

The meat part was really exciting for me. I didn't think I felt like peeling potatoes, but I grabbed a roast to go with some just in case. Got some burger meat, some chicken for homemade soup, and of course, some hot dogs. I made a quick detour back into the shelves to get some chili. It wasn't just that I forgot the chili; it was colder than I'd ever felt on the refrigerated side of the store. I thought if I saw the manager again I might mention it. If I couldn't take it, other people were probably all freaked out over it. Wouldn't want someone on such a nice person's back over something stupid like that. Customers can be jerks.

I ducked into the freezer section and picked up some frozen meals. Never a bad idea to have around, and they taste better than the vacuum packed stuff. I also grabbed some frozen vegetables, because you know, some of them are actually good for you, and some breakfast stuff. I skipped the ice cream. We had enough sweets.

Finally made it over to produce after that. Potatoes, carrots, apples, bananas… you name it. Anything I thought might have been really good for the kid, and a few things for me. I didn't really wanna get the bananas, but… hey, potassium.

But as I made it toward the front of the produce section, ready to head for the check out line, I smelled something amazing.

Actually, I take that back. I smelled something horrible, like my socks after turning werehog.

My stomach lurched, and then as I recognized the smell my mouth began to water.

Dureek!

When I was traveling the world, trying to put the continents back together, I kept on running to this weirdo named Wentos. And he sold this kinda fruit from Adabat called the Dureek fruit. It's the nastiest smelling thing in the world, but then you eat it, and wow, it's amazing. It's indescribable. It has this nice, gooey texture like custard, and I can't even begin to describe the taste. I guess the closest I can get is nutty. I love them to death. Tails thinks they're gross but… I love them. And until that day in the store, Wentos had been my only hook up for 'em.

They were selling Dureek fruit! At Drummond's!

I let out a strange little chuckle, unable to contain myself. I was so happy! I heard a little girl go, "Mommy, is Sonic imitating Mr. Eggman?" but I didn't let myself react. They had Dureek fruit! All this trouble, all this fuss, for Dureek fruit! The only thing that could possibly have been better was someone putting a chili dog in my hands!

Now, if I had been completely with it, which I was not, I would have realized that I should have smelled the Dureek fruit over in the freezer section. But I wasn't.

I started racing through the aisles, cornering tightly with my cart, scaring people. Finally I gave up and slowed to a stop long enough to abandon it near the oranges.

That was when I saw it.

There was an endcap display of them, boxes piled high with some kinda tarp over them, and a sign advertising the rare dureek fruit, only five bucks a pound. Holy crap. And there, high at the top of it, was one lone spiky fruit.

From behind the bakery, a tall man with a bald head, but no stomach to match, in a button up shirt and tie, walked into view. He was approaching the Dureek. He lifted his hand up. He was tall enough to reach it. He was going to get the last one…

I didn't think. I should have thought, but I didn't. I ran. I ran at full speed. I almost reached sonic boom speed before I jumped up to grab the spiny fruit. A pair of large hands, one of which was wearing a shiny watch, wrapped around it and pulled it out of the way just as I sailed over the boxes. I tried to straighten myself out to land on my feet, but I hit the ground rolling and found myself in front of the service desk, way at the other end of the store.

…I heard lots of laughter. From the service desk, from the entry, from every corner of the store. I looked up, and even that far away I could see that the tall, bald man was smirking at me as he walked toward the checkout with the Dureek.

I picked myself up slowly, stretching quickly. Then I walked back to my cart with my eyes on the ground.


	10. The Checkout

**Chatper 10: The Checkout**

I pushed my cart slowly into line, leaning on the front heavily.

I was so tired.

I'd fallen all over the place, been attacked on the train, spent way more time looking for stuff in a hurry than I normally do when I'm taking my time, chased off a guy who was swearing in front of kids, been shown up in math by a little rabbit, and embarrassed myself in front of the whole store trying to get merchandise not once, but twice.

Oh, and been mistaken for an abuse victim because of the bruises I gave myself, like the exact opposite of that girl from that book Amy reads.

The shortest line had two people in front of me, so I waited.

It seemed like I waited forever. The first person in line was actually that bald guy who stole the Dureek out from in front of me. He kept on looking back at me with a smirk, a sneer in his cold blue eyes. Man, he reminded me of Eggman, only thin. He took forever because he had a ton of groceries, he had bottles to return, he had all these ridiculous coupons to go with it, and when it was all said and done, he didn't even end up paying any money. She just gave him a receipt and he left.

The next person in front of me was a sweet little old lady who moved at the speed of molasses in… oh hey, it actually was January, go figure. Anyway, she was slower than slow, so even though my back was killing me and my arms were tired, I helped her put all her stuff on the belt. It still took her forever though. I just wanted to lie down on the conveyor belt and sleep. I put out the little bar thing after her haul and started loading my groceries up on the belt as she finished up.

As I put the groceries out in front of me, I could feel the blood drain out of my face. There was so much stuff… I went overboard. I knew I didn't have a lot of money, and yet I'd grabbed all these things. I guess I was just thinking about Tails and making him feel better… and I guess I was thinking about myself too. I was going to all this trouble for him, so naturally my thought was that I deserved something too. I was starting to realize that deserving didn't really count for much.

I found myself sorting stuff on the belt. Important stuff first: The medicine for Tails, the milk, the eggs, the bread. The freezer meals; I didn't feel much like cooking for him. Tails' favorite cereals. At the end, my cereals, the snack foods, and the zinc drops. I hoped I had enough. A tiny part of me wanted to slip some of that ahead of what I got for Tails, but the thoughts weren't even fully formed before I silenced them. Tails needed to eat healthy more than I needed comfort food, and besides, what had I come all this way for, fallen and hurt myself for, if I didn't do what I set out to do? I had at least that much left of my pride. That was gonna have to be enough.

Either way, I promised myself I'd never go grocery shopping hungry again.

"Thank you for shopping at Drummond's; did you find everything you were looking for today?" the checkout girl asked me as she chomped on some gum.

"No, but thanks for asking," I muttered, watching sadly as she started to scan my items. The first few went ok, but when she got to the cough medicine, it wouldn't scan. She tried it a bunch of times before picking up a phone and announcing into it, "Price check on cough syrup. Having a good time this weekend?"

I have never wanted to smack someone who was not a robot so much in my life.

I glared.

"What? You don't sound sick," she explained, pulling away from the phone.

I continued to glare, and she shrugged, put it aside, and kept scanning items. I stopped looking at her for a minute and turned my eyes to the screen that showed how much it cost, watching the number grow higher and higher, and worrying about my wallet.

She scanned all the important stuff, and eventually someone got her a code for the cough syrup… and I was still within range. I decided to see how close I could cut it. I got my wallet out… It was at the first box of my cereal that I went over. I said, "Stop, I don't think I have that much money."

She glared at me.

"Well… I can take that one off.. Geez, didn't you add this stuff up?"

I heard someone clear their throat.

"No… no, I was just thinking about getting all this stuff for Tails." She was right. That was a total jerk move of me, not to add it all up in advance. I tried not to look down. "I"ll put it all back where it belongs, lady."

She opened her mouth to say something, giving me a view of her bright pink gum, when I heard a deep voice boom, "No, that's not necessary." Dureek guy strode up, pushing his cart full of already-bagged groceries in front of him. He pushed his glasses up on his big, pointy nose. "I told you to put my bottle money toward his order, miss."

"I already did," She sneered, ending her comment with a little growl at the bottom of her voice.

"No, you didn't. I would have seen you reach up and scan the slip."

I stared at him. What the heck. Dureek guy, who was all arrogant about taking the fruit I was obviously after, was paying for my stuff?

"What, were you standing over there watching?"

"Maybe if you hadn't stared at the slip chuckling like an insane roboticist as I left, I wouldn't have," he snarled. Man, he even kinda sounded like Eggman. But Eggman would never stick up for me, much less buy my groceries… and Eggman would never insult Eggman, either.

Then came a voice behind me, a familiar one, high-pitched and nasal. "This is the third time we've caught you, lady." I turned and looked behind me, finding myself face to face with yellow scales. I looked up. Vector the Crocodile, glaring at the woman.

"Now," ordered the bald man, "scan his slip and the rest of his groceries. If it goes over what he can pay plus the amount on the slip, I'll cover the difference out of pocket. It's the least I can do after taking the last Dureek fruit." He glanced down at me and smirked. "A few dollars worth of groceries is definitely worth being able to tell my students I beat Sonic the Hedgehog to something."

Despite myself, I grinned. "You any relation to Jet the Hawk?"

His smirk erupted into a knowing smile. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."

The cashier scowled and scanned a little slip, and I forked over the money I had. Still had a dollar to go. Vector, surprisingly, offered the last buck. Not used to seeing that guy give away money. The woman bagged up my groceries, sulking.

"Thanks, you two." I smiled at the bald man and Vector.

"Hey, no problem," Vector said. "Just get that stuff home before it melts, why don't ya?"

The bald man simply nodded, smiling.

Exhausted, I started pushing the cart out the door, wondering how I was going to carry it all home.

* * *

**Author's Note: **It isn't over yet. Two more chapters to go!


	11. The Ride

I don't think I'd felt that low as I did walking out of the grocery store since that thing with the aliens. My head was hanging as I pushed the heavy cart. The cold wind bit me the moment I stepped out, and as I walked out into the slush every step sent an ache up my ankles, my legs, to my knees. I found myself shivering suddenly. It had gotten so cold while I was inside. I wondered how late it was. I wondered if I would get home after dark. I wondered if Tails was sitting there starving or something.

I heard a car horn starting to go off, but I ignored it. I decided I would push the cart to the furthest corral, put it in, pull my bags out, and lug them back to the ruins on foot. I couldn't run with that much stuff, so I figured it'd take me most of the night. It was stupid of me to spend all that money. I shouldn't have gone shopping hungry. Here I went out with a goal and I was gonna fail it, not because I actually failed it, but because I didn't plan ahead.

The car horn was getting closer, but I figured it was a dumb kid. As I pulled my cart up into the corral, though, this big white sedan pulled in front of me. Well, white, except for the blue dusty-looking stuff around the one headlight, which looked shinier and brighter than the other one in the light snow.

I blinked, and the window rolled down, revealing a lavender bear. It was the woman from the train, the woman who kicked me.

"You're carrying all that to the train station by yourself?" She asked.

I shook my head. "My pass is expired. I'm gonna have to walk." I didn't have it in me to lie again.

She shook her head. "No, you're not."

"What?"

"You're not gonna have to do anything except maybe buckle a seatbelt." She moved around a little inside and then opened her door, climbing out.

"You don't have to do that," I apologized.

"Maybe not, but I'm gonna. Now can I put your groceries in the trunk or not?"

Too tired to argue, I nodded.

The bear reached into the car and pressed something under the wheel, and I heard her trunk pop. She walked back and opened it, then came over to my cart. She stared for a second, then started snaking her thick bear arms through the handles until she came away with all but two of my bags. She lifted them off toward her trunk as if they were light as rings. I picked up the two remaining bags: one was bread and fruit, and the other was cereal. They felt like they weighed a ton, and my arms started to hurt just from carrying them to her trunk.

"I can't thank you e-" I started.

"You're shivering. Shut up." She closed the trunk. "Get in, buckle up, and then you can thank me all you want."

I wrapped my hands around my upper arms as I went for the door. I was shivering. Wow. So I opened it up, climbed in, and quickly buckled my seatbelt. The car seemed kinda messy, with papers everywhere, but no wrappers or anything. I heard a door open behind me, and I looked up in the rearview mirror. I could see her leaning across the backseat, groping for something. She pulled out a blanket and held it up to me with a demanding glare.

I took it and wrapped up in it. It was blue and fuzzy. Warm. I hoped I would remember to ask where she got it…

Then she closed the door, walked around, and climbed back in herself. "You can play with the heat and the radio, but no rap music." For good measure, she reached up and cranked the heat dial all the way to the right. I could feel it blasting my face: hot, dry air. It was nice. I felt so cold…

I just nodded, and started blurting out thanks. After a moment, she rolled her eyes. "Sonic, Sonic, stop. I'm just doing exactly what you would do. I would be doing this even if I hadn't hurt you."

"Because I'm me?"

"Well, something tells me you're not going to rob me or kill me." She shrugged. "I should follow your example more anyway. I mean, you… believe in yourself. You know what you're worth. You know what other people are worth. I should be thanking you." She turned the wrong way out of the parking lot. Was it? I wasn't sure. I didn't normally drive out of there.

"What would you thank me for?"

"For treating me with more respect in a moment for hitting you than anyone else in my life has shown me in years for being nice." She made a left into… Tasty Burger?

I felt my jaw fall and quickly recovered, "Where are we going?"

"The drivethrough. What do you and Tails like here?"

Without thinking, I rattled our usual order off, but then I cringed a little. I was so hungry before, but now I didn't even want food. I just wanted to curl up somewhere warm and sleep.

She must have seen me out of the corner of her eye, because she asked, "Maybe some soup instead of the fries?"

I nodded. Soup sounded good. Warm.

So she pulled up to the window and quickly ordered. She spoke quickly and I lost her a little, but she asked for three bags and she only ordered two sodas. After she paid, she peeked inside a bag, handed it to me, and then put the other two behind her in the backseat. She put two drinks in the cupholder in the console and handed me a straw.

"This is too kind of you."

"No, saving everyone all the time is too kind of you. I mean, you saved my life, Sonic. You saved my life one more time than you have anyone else's. I can buy you lunch."

I nodded, and I found myself unable to resist the call of the soup. Still, I wasn't sure I followed her. "More than anyone else? What do you mean?"

"I was on that train because my now-former fiancee smashed my headlight for trying to leave to get some air. I finally got away from him to go pick it up from the shop…"

… headlight…? Frat boy?

"He called me, saying he needed me to pick him up at Drummond's. I saw the police put him in the back of the car. They said he attacked you after you took him to task for swearing in front of a kid. I couldn't believe it. That's not the man I fell in love with. I thought he was just that way with me lately because I'm an idiot." She shuddered, sighing. "If he'll swear at a kid and attack the toughest guy on the planet, what the hell will he do to me?"

She was looking out the window as she drove, but somehow I thought her eyes were lookin' further away than ten one thousand. After a while, she added. "I was going to just hop in the car and go, but now I might have enough time to pack up my things and get away before he gets out of lockup."

I found myself blinking. It must have been too much for me, trying to process what happened and what it all meant, because I found myself saying, "Wait, who names their daughter Barry?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's Baranova. I'm grateful, but back off my name and put some soup in that big mouth of yours."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Barring catstrophe, I'll post the last chapter of this story next week, but there's a sidestory that fits in this universe, too. :)


	12. The Recovery

_Author's Note: Forgive me for posting a bit early! There's another note at the end to explain where I'm going next if you'd like to read more after__ this!_

**Chapter 12: The Recovery**

The soup was amazing. It warmed me up a lot, though I was still pretty cold after I finished. The burger was good, too. I think the thing that helped the most was the pop. I hadn't eaten or drank anything all day, so water and sugar went a long way. We chatted a little while longer while I ate. Well, she did most of the talking. She seemed to need it. I told her about what happened with Frat Boy, including what he said. It seemed to upset her some, but I wanted to make sure the spell was broken. I didn't want anyone with that lunatic, much less a good person. She told me about how they met, about how sweet he was at first, and how he slowly got more and more critical of her. It reminded me a little of what I saw go down between Eggman and Knuckles back on the Island. Some of the things she said he did honestly reminded me of Amy. I mean, she pretty much always gets her way, she'll go praising me one minute and bashing me the next, and then there's the hitting. Barry seemed to think the same thing, because she warned me not to let anyone get between me and my friends, no matter how big their mallet was.

After a while I musta nodded off, because the next thing I knew, a big paw was shaking me gently.

"Are you walking to the door, or am I going to have to carry you?" came a soft voice, in that middle range where you can't quite tell if it's a young boy or an older woman.

I opened my eyes, and blue eyes were staring at me. For a second I thought it might be Tails, but I realized they were surrounded by lavender, not yellow. Baranova. The bear on the train.

"We're there?"

"Yeah. And I already took all the groceries in, so don't worry about that."

"Tails let you in?"

She nodded. "He said thanks for the Tasty Burger. I didn't tell him I bought." She grinned.

I nodded back. "Thanks... Hey, where did you get this blanket? I really like it."

"It was a gift from Eric, and it's yours now." She snickered, although I thought I saw a tear in her eye.

I blinked. "OK, that's weird."

"What? It's you or the trash. Come on. Tails is unpacking the medicine for you." She offered me a hand and I took it.

She pulled me up to my feet, and I found it hard to get up even with the help. I felt so tired, and my legs and back were stiff and sore. She walked with me to the door.

"Thanks, Baranova."

"No problem. And brace yourself. Something in that house reeks."

"Reeks?" I took a sniff, but it seemed like I couldn't smell much of anything.

It was warmer in the house than outside, but it still felt cold to me. I was grateful I had the blanket. Baranova lead me into the kitchen, where Tails was standing at the stove, stirring a pot, tails swishing behind him. I thought I saw a box of red gelatin on the counter next to him.

"Tails?"

He turned to me, smiling. He still looked tired, but that glassy look was gone from his eyes. "Oh, hey Sonic. I found a bottle of naproxen in the Tornado."

I fought the urge to slap myself in the face.

"But I found it after my fever broke. Go figure. What happened to you?"

I just shook my head. "Everything happened. I don't feel like explaining." I sat down at the table, sinking tiredly into the chair. Then I turned to Baranova. "You know, you should have let me take the groceries in. Tails has been sick in this house for a couple days. Now you've been exposed."

She threw her head back, giving a big, hearty laugh. When she finally stopped, she smiled at me. "That's adorable. Even if I hadn't already had it last week… I was just in a tiny, enclosed car with you."

I stared at her, blinking for a moment. I wasn't sick…? I was just tired from running all over town all day… And sore from falling… and I couldn't smell as well as usual for some reason… and I had a bunch of trouble doing math earlier… and now that I thought of it, my throat felt a little scratchy.

I growled and rolled my eyes. "Why didn't I realize it right away?"

"Because you were too hell-bent on helping your best friend?" Baranova offered, smiling at Tails.

"Speaking of helping people, Vector sent me an e-mail thanking you for help on a case. He even attached a video of some kids thanking you. I guess that cashier who tried to steal from you stole their bottle receipt before, and no one believed them. And Vector says their teacher actually paid him. Pretty cool."

Baranova smiled. "Sonic the Helpful," she quipped. "But, I should get going. It was nice meeting you two."

"Hey, before you go," Tails volunteered, "I found some zinc drops in one of the bags. If it's ok with Sonic, you can have them." He grinned sadly. "I think you have better odds of needing them than he does."

I nodded. Baranova smiled. "Thanks, Tails, Sonic. You're good kids."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a wallet. Tails and I looked at each other, slack. "You d-don't have to do that!" Tails stammered.

"Oh, I'm not paying you." She pulled out a little purple card. "I'm going to Empire City. I won't be needing a Station Square train pass anymore." She held it out to me, and I took it.

"Wow… thanks, Barry."

"No problem. Now, If you two are all set, I have to pack before Eric's buddies post his bail."

"It was nice meeting you!"

"Take care… and smile a little, will ya?" I added.

She grinned and walked out the door.

"She seems nice," Tails noted. "Speaking of creepy nice girls, Amy stopped by while you were gone."

I groaned.

"Said she saw something at the market and thought of you."

Tails grabbed something off the cupboard and brought it over. As the smell hit me, I thought for a minute that tears might well up in my eyes… it couldn't be, could it?

"Hurry up and eat it, will you? I'm starting to get my sense of smell back and I'm not happy about it."

I looked down at the plate, and laying there before me was the most ripe Dureek fruit I'd ever seen, and a spoon.

"She promised there's more where that came from," Tails snickered, rolling his eyes, "If you just take her out on a date."

I had to admit, I was sorely tempted. Still, by the time I scooped a bite onto the spoon and put the sweet, nutty goodness in my mouth, I'd forgotten about everything except the fruit I was eating and the people I helped. It was a beautiful day after all.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Thank you all so much for reading this far! I am so grateful for your support and time.

I'd also like to thank iammemyself and raeweis, without whom this piece would never have been possible.

There may be more to discover in this particular cycle, though. This week, I'll be posting any Sonic shorts I've accumulated between when I posted the first chapter of this and now. Next Friday, I'll post a little bit about the Chaotix's case in Chapter 10, in a short entitled "The Eternally Closed Door." The week after that will be the first chapter of my longer Sonic and Pokemon crossover, _Sonic and the Fallen King!_

Thank you!


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